Is Children’s Specialization In A Specific Sport Positive?
Many parents wonder if it is advisable for their children to specialize in a specific sport from an early age. The truth is, no. This is discouraged by many studies. In the following lines, we will analyze the main conclusions of the most relevant research to date, which discourage this sports specialization.
First, it is necessary to consider that early specialization in a specific sport increases the risk of injuries in children and adolescents.
This not only can keep the child away from sports practice during childhood, it can also have very negative consequences in adult life. Instead, the experts recommend that children combine several different sports.
Children’s specialization in a specific sport can cause injuries
Many athletes play on school teams and clubs in the same sports during the same season. This increases your playing time, but it can also increase your risk of overexertion injuries.
In this sense, it is important to highlight a study that revealed that high school athletes who specialized in a single sport were 70% more likely to suffer an injury during the season than those who played several sports.
The amount of playing time, along with training, increases the intensity of stress on the same muscles, bones, tendons or growth plates. Fatigue combined with the stress of repetitive training can do more harm than good to the growing body.
Regarding the need to achieve a certain degree of sports specialization for elite-level skill development, other research concluded that such intense training in a single sport to the exclusion of others should be postponed until late adolescence to optimize success. and minimize injuries, psychological stress and exhaustion.
It is also worth highlighting another study that found that the early sport specialization is associated with higher injury rates for college athletes. In other words, the risk of injury affects not only school age, it goes much further.
Other risks of early sports specialization
In addition to increasing the risk of overuse injuries, children’s specialization in a single sport also poses other risks. One of them has to do with physical development. After all, early sport specialization can impede overall athletic development. In other words, it can prevent a harmonious physical development.
On the other hand, it can also lead to social isolation, mainly because of the large amount of time children and young people need to devote to training and competitions.
Finally, the specialization can lead to exhaustion so great that the child or adolescent has just deciding to abandon the sport. This, in turn, can lead to problems with those around you because of the frustration it will certainly bring to all the adults involved.
Children’s specialization in a specific sport does not guarantee success
Despite all the effort, specializing children in a specific sport does not guarantee success. This is the conclusion of a study published in Sport Health magazine , carried out in 2018.
According to the study authors, it may be tempting for parents or coaches to encourage children to specialize in a sport from the start, in order to maximize their chances of becoming elite professionals. However, this is not necessarily the best path to success.
In fact, for the authors of this study, as for most professionals in the sector, it is advantageous for the child to play several sports before starting to specialize in the one that is most interested.
Children and sports specialization
The practice of different sports will help the child to obtain the full development of all their physical abilities. In addition, she will also have the opportunity to live different experiences and find the sport she really wants to specialize in, if there is one she really wants to focus on.
However, she doesn’t need to practice all of them at the same time. She can practice two of them simultaneously or change them from time to time according to her available hours. This will provide a broader view and offer different opportunities.
Anyway, the parents should not lose sight of the practice of a sport basics that will help establish the physical basis for any team sport , and which are worked multiple skills: athletics. After all, athletics is not just about running, it also involves jumping, dodging, reacting, throwing different objects and working as a team, among other skills.
